Two Friends is an American DJ/producer duo made up of Eli Sones and Matthew Halper. The Los Angeles-based duo gained popularity for their original discography, remixes, and hour-long "Big Bootie" mixes.
Early life
Sones grew up in Los Angeles, while Halper moved around before settling into LA at the age of ten. They met each other in seventh grade while attending Brentwood School throughout their middle and high school years.[1] At the very end of high school, the duo formed Two Friends, coming up with the name together during a Senior Seminar class they had both enrolled in. They began working on hip-hop beats in the software Pro Tools, producing for several up-and-coming rappers before pivoting towards the electronic realm.[2] After visiting the Sahara Tent at Coachella and being slowly introduced to electronic music by some friends and family, they became even more fascinated with the emerging genre and soon dove in head-first.[3]
Growing up, Halper had a strong background in music, starting guitar lessons at the age of eight, training in music theory, and singing in his high school choir. Traditionally his listening interests were dominated by alternative rock and rock classics such as Blink-182, Led Zeppelin, and Bon Jovi.[4]
Sones' focus was more centralized around DJing and mashups.[5] During high school, Sones went by the moniker "The Friendly Giant" before linking up with Halper and forming Two Friends. His early musical interests were predominantly hip-hop and indie rock.
Soon after starting to create music together, Sones moved to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Vanderbilt University and Halper to Palo Alto to attend Stanford University. Halper majored in Product Design and Sones in Human & Organizational Development, but much of their time was dedicated to the Two Friends project. For the most part, the first four years of Two Friends was long-distance; however since graduating and returning home to LA in 2015, Halper and Sones have been working the Two Friends project full-time.[6]
Music career
One of their first big opportunities came in 2014, when their remix of Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" was added to regular rotation on SiriusXM's EDM Station BPM.[7] Later in 2014, they released two singles with the band Breach the Summit (now known as Armors) titled "Our Names in Lights" and "Long Way Home".
Their next originals came in 2016 with "Forever" and "Overdose" on Armada Music,[8] both amassing millions of plays throughout Spotify, SoundCloud and other streaming services. In 2016 the musical group toured more vigorously than ever before, playing frequently across North America.
Their second and most popular EP "Out of Love" was released in early 2017 through Spinnin' Records,[9] featuring what would become two of their most popular songs, "Out Of Love" and "Pacific Coast Highway". They subsequently embarked on the “Out Of Love Tour” in the beginning of 2017.[10] The remainder of 2017 saw the releases “Emily”, “While We’re Dreaming” and “Just A Kid”, with the accompanying tours including shows at major venues and festivals such as Electric Forest Festival,[11]Terminal 5, and more.
The duo has amassed over twenty-seven #1 tracks on Hype Machine, as well as garnered praise from The Chainsmokers, who named them "Most Underrated Artist" in a 2017 Reddit Thread.[12] They have recently undertaken official remixes for artists such as Steve Aoki,Louis Tomlinson, Audien, 3lau, Vicetone and many more.
In 2022, the duo departed on the 35-city Adventureland Tour, selling out venues such as Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, three nights at Terminal 5, and two nights at Echostage, to name a few.[13]
To acknowledge ten years of Big Bootie mixes, Two Friends produced a concert called Big Bootie Land, held in Boston on October 14 and 15, 2022, to a crowd of over 12,000.[14]
2022 brought about the release of singles such as "Wish You Were Here" featuring John K,[15] "Chloe" featuring Jutes, "Graduated" featuring Bryce Vine, and many more.
Their 2023 Planet Two Friends tour took them to the biggest venues of their touring career to date. Two Friends performed at iconic venues across North America such as Red Rocks, Northerly Island, and Forest Hills Stadium as part of their 25-date tour. The centerpiece of the Planet Two Friends tour, a spaceship-DJ-booth hybrid creation, was debuted at their Coachella performance one month prior. Over 100,000 tickets were bought by fans attending the Planet Two Friends.
Two of their bigger songs to date, "More Than Yesterday" with Russell Dickerson[18] and "If Only I" with Loud Luxury and Bebe Rexha[19] were released during the Planet Two Friends Tour.
Big Bootie Mix Volume 23 was premiered at Big Bootie Land Chicago on June 2, 2023, at Huntington Bank Pavilion on Northerly Island.[20]
At the start of 2023, Two Friends began their first Las Vegas residency. The DJs play at the Wynn and Encore Hotel properties, with performances at XS Nightclub and Encore Beach Club throughout the year.
In 2012, Two Friends debuted their mix series Friendly Sessions, which feature thirty minutes of their favorite songs across the dance realm alongside a thirty-minute guest mix from producers and DJs. Friendly Sessions has featured acts such as Louis the Child, Loud Luxury, Matoma and more.[21]
The Big Bootie Mixes are syndicated on multiple channels on SiriusXM, including BPM and Soul Cycle Radio.
